Ferrari told they’ve now made Lewis Hamilton’s ‘muscle memory’ issue even worse

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One of the tasks Ferrari have to tackle during the winter break is to help Lewis Hamilton continue to adapt after his move from Mercedes.

The 2025 campaign wasn’t a season that Lewis Hamilton or Ferrari will reflect back on fondly.

Hamilton endured a season where he never felt comfortable in the SF-25, and team principal Fred Vasseur oversaw a campaign where Ferrari went backwards compared to their rivals.

The seven-time world champion’s issues during the ground-effect era started long before his move to Ferrari.

Hamilton wasn’t happy with his final Mercedes car, and he’s only added two wins to his tally in the past four years.

Journalist Mark Hughes has been studying Hamilton’s recent struggles and thinks one issue he faced at Ferrari this year has exacerbated the problems he was facing with the Silver Arrows.

He believes that the engine braking that Charles Leclerc has adapted to while at Ferrari is only hampering Hamilton, as it doesn’t allow him to utilise his ‘very aggressive’ driving style.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Lewis Hamilton dealing with ‘very alien’ feeling since racing for Ferrari

Hughes was reflecting on Hamilton’s struggles during the ground-effect era on The Race F1 Podcast.

He said: “I mean, he’s had a very aggressive style in the way he brakes, and he likes to brake late and get the car to respond from the front.

“And he’ll just sort of need the back to keep up, and these cars really don’t reward that in the way that where the centre of air pressure goes when you do that.

“It seems like he’s had difficulty getting rid of some of the muscle memory that is tripping him up with this generation of car.

“And it’s just been made even worse as he went to Ferrari, which is a car that has been developed around a lot of engine braking.

“Leclerc has come to rely on that engine braking to help with the rotation of the car early in the corner, and he’s just naturally adapted to it without even probably noticing, whereas it’s something very alien to Lewis on top of the problems he was already having with this generation of car.

“You think probably a 25-year-old Lewis would have adapted to it quite easily. But maybe a 40-year-old one is struggling to lose that muscle memory.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Ferrari working on ‘intelligent’ trick to get around 2026 FIA checks

One of the benefits of a new regulation cycle in Formula 1 is allowing drivers like Hamilton, who are new to teams, to have a greater influence on a brand-new car.

Ferrari are already toying with a new steering wheel for 2026 that will more closely resemble what the 40-year-old was working with at Mercedes.

That won’t help Hamilton adapt to the engine braking that Ferrari have relied on for some time, but will allow him to make important, split-second decisions in the car more easily.

However, what many people expect to be the most important aspect of next year’s cars is the power unit.

Ferrari have been lobbying the FIA after discovering that Mercedes and Red Bull might have already discovered a loophole in the rules.

If Mercedes and Red Bull get away with their compression trick, then Ferrari will suddenly be six months behind their rivals when it comes to the development of their engine.

However, Ferrari are working on a ‘trick’ to pass the FIA’s checks, which could allow them to be competitive as soon as the season begins.